Information management systems (IMS) typically use a relational database management system (RDBMS) to manage data records in a database. As an example, an IMS might manage document data, with the desire that some documents can be read by all users but only written to by a few. Many other high-level access rules can be enforced by the IMS. In any case, when a user wants to access the records of a document in the RDBMS, the user is routed through the IMS to first check for access control.
The documents themselves are broken down into records of various formats by the IMS and the records are stored in tabular form in the RDBMS, which can efficiently manage the records for querying using a language known as SQL. Only the IMS knows the high level access control rules. User applications must access the RDBMS indirectly, through the IMS, to ensure integrity and protection of data.
Unfortunately, as recognized herein requiring applications to access data indirectly, i.e., through the IMS, slows down performance. As stated above, however, with the current state of the art, applications cannot be permitted to access the RDBMS directly because this would bypass the access control functions of the IMS. Moreover, the present invention recognizes that RDBMS manage low level access protection for sets of homogeneously structured records, and not for individual entities. The IMS must enforce access protection rules at the entity (document) level.
As also recognized herein, some new applications, such as e-commerce applications, require heretofore unusual rules in the database context, namely, distribution rules (as opposed to access rules) that are related to content licensing. These licensing rules can and do change over time, so that a data system's protection rules advantageously should be extensible. The present invention recognizes that it would be desirable to allow a user to access an RDBMS directly, without first going through an IMS, while maintaining IMS access control and without requiring reengineering of the RDBMS to account for extensions of access control.